Sunday, 6th March 2005
Stanford under 7, 8 and 9 squads went to the Essex Festival at Eton Manor hopeful of at least one side reaching the semi-finals and they ended with two semi-final places.
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Stanford under 7’s had a great tournament and were unlucky not to progress to the final. In their first match they came up against Thurrock, who they beat 30-20, with tries from Robin Hughes 2, Albert Aldham 2, Jack Ervin and Sam Egar. Next up were Upminster B, who were beaten 25-10 with the scorers Robin Hughes 2, Albert Aldham 2 and Jack Ervin. Stanford then despatched Woodford in a tight, closely fought affair. Robin Hughes scored another two and Daniel McAllister, Sam Moran and Callum Jones scoring one each for Stanford to win 25-20. The under 7’s then came up against Westcliff in the semi-final and in another tight match lost 15-20. Scorers were Sam Moran and player of the day Robin Hughes with yet another two. Proud Coach John Taylor said that on another day the boys could have won the tournament.
This was the first tournament that Stanford under 8’s had ever played in; in fact they had never even trained together! They also had the handicap of being one player short, having only six players. Their first opponents Woodford graciously offered to play with six players and in an entertaining match Stanford lost 30-20, with a hat-trick of tries from Dan O’Flaherty and one from Louis Webb. Stanford then played Wideford School, who also generously played with six players. Stanford started well and were level 10-10 at half-time, after tries by Josh Goshmanski and Dan O’Flaherty, but the school side then went away in the second half, winning 25-10. They were then unlucky to lose to their local rivals Thurrock, despite having a player less. Stanford lost 25-15, but showed much promise and with more training sessions together will gain better results soon.
Stanford under 9’s started against Upminster B, in what proved to be a very tough and competitive festival. Stanford dominated the match and could have scored five or six tries, but had to settle for a 5-0 win after a try by Sean Bunney. Prep school Wideford were their next opponents, and with a good team effort, Stanford got into their opponents and rattled them. Connor Gillam ripped the ball in the tackle, the ball was fed to fly-half Dominic McDonald, who broke a tackle and ran 20 metres to score the only try of the game to win 5-0. Stanford knew they needed at least a draw against Thurrock to progress to the semi-final, and in a very closely fought game the result was a 0-0 draw. The game was noteworthy for the ferocious tackling from both sides. In the semi-final, opponents Westcliff were too good on the day and won 25-0. The Westcliff scrum-half played very well, and made numerous blind-side breaks that Stanford could not find any answer to. Coach Kyran McDonald said that the team did fantastically well to win their group and get to the semi-finals in a physically demanding section, and he was very proud of the effort the players put in.
Congratulations to Stanford Minis for getting to two Essex semi-finals despite being one of the smaller clubs on show.
Anyone aged 5 to 16 wishing to play rugby should phone Kyran on 01375 403520.
On Sunday, 15th March the Essex Festival for under 10, 11 and 12 takes place at Westcliff Rugby Club, and Stanford Minis will be there hoping for more success.
Directions to Eton Manor Ground
Wanstead Sports Ground, Nutter Lane, Wanstead, London E11
Directions: From North A12 - Eastern Avenue. Right into Wanstead High Road. 1st right into Grove Park. Bear right into The Avenue. Right into Leicester Road, left into Nutter Lane. Follow to end of lane. From South A12 - Cambridge Park Road, left into Wanstead High Road, then as from North.
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